If you've never bet on his horses on Breeders' Cup day, you've spared yourself three dozen losers. If you've disregarded him the other 364 days, you've passed up thousands of winners.

For 30 years, Bobby Frankel has been one of the world's most successful trainers. For the past two, he's been the hottest guy in North America, spending most weekends posing with trophies engraved with the name of a major stakes. Even if he goes 0-for-6 at Belmont Park in the 18th Breeders' Cup, he looks like a lock for his second consecutive Eclipse Award. Few handicappers think Frankel will still be on the schneid in the Cup come sundown Oct. 27.

Frankel will send out a serious contender in every Cup race but the Mile and the Juvenile, where he's given his rivals a break by sitting them out. He has three morning-line favorites in You (Juvenile Fillies), Flute (Distaff) and Aptitude (Classic), and three strong threats in Squirtle Squirt (Sprint), Timboroa (Turf) and Starine (Filly and Mare Turf). This show of strength takes "embarrassment of riches" into another dimension.  "Well, obviously, you've got to like You," Frankel said Oct. 17 on a conference call. "You've got to like Aptitude and then you've got to like Flute and even Squirtle Squirt."

Frankel also has to like Starine, whom he also owns. After acquiring her this spring he has transformed the 4-year-old filly from an also-ran at provincial tracks in France to a graded-stakes winner. He's putting up $90,000 to supplement her into the Filly and Mare Turf, saying it's no big deal. It isn't, considering she has earned more than $400,000 for him this season. "I really care about the racing more than the money," Frankel said.

Or as the call's moderator, Jim Gluckson, said, "He's won every other stake in New York since Saratoga this year, so he's got a few dollars to spend."

Yet even the great ones have holes in their game. Somehow, the 60-year-old Hall of Famer has managed to go 0-for-36 in the Breeders' Cup, a source of morbid curiosity among the media. Headline: "When Bad Things Happen to Great Trainers".

"Well, everybody's mentioned it to me, to be honest with you," Frankel said, "but after if I win one, then everybody will stop asking me that question."

Besides dealing with the inevitable queries about his Cup slump, Frankel also is being asked if he could set a record for wins on Breeders' Cup day. Nobody's ever done better than D. Wayne Lukas' three victories in 1988, and only Lukas (1985, '86, '87, '94, '99), Richard Mandella (1993), Shug McGaughey (1989, '95), Patrick Byrne (1997) and Joe Orseno (last year) have had two on a card.

When asked if he would be surprised to win four races, Frankel said, "Of course it would surprise me. But it's not out of the realm, you know. I'll take one or two of them right now."

It would be a shocker if You lost in the Juvenile Fillies, and Flute belongs in all exactas for the Distaff. Squirtle Squirt, Timboroa and Starine deserve long looks, and Aptitude's recent form is the best of the Americans in the $4-million Classic. He annihilated a subpar field by 10 lengths in the 1 1/4-mile Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont, so he's won over the track at the Classic's distance. If Aptitude doesn't bounce off a career top and European superstars Fantastic Light and Galileo flop in their dirt debuts, Frankel has great expectations.

"If he wins the Classic, I think he should win everything," he said. "Handicap horse and Horse of the Year because he's been beating the best field that they accumulated over the year.

"I really fear the European horses the most, because I've run with the American horses and he's beaten them pretty well in his last two races. So the unknown is my only fear.

"I know [Fantastic Light and Galileo] are very good horses and hopefully they don't handle the dirt that well. And you know that's what I'm hoping for. But they're really exceptional horses. And I think Fantastic Light will handle the dirt. I think his pedigree says he'll handle the dirt. And he's probably the one I fear the most."

Along with a few things he can't see, hear or touch. It's hard to spend a lifetime around thoroughbreds without developing superstitions, and even this hard-edged native of Brooklyn is not immune. When asked if he was going to watch the races from his lucky seat in Belmont's racing office, Frankel replied, "Definitely."

All those great horses and good fortune, too. That endless slump doesn't have a chance.